Chair and stool



Patented Aug. 24,1880.

E. "I it (MndeL) G K HEIST Chair and Stool.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE K. HEIST, OF WINCHESTER, VIRGINIA.

CHAlR AND STOOL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 231,576, dated August24, 1880. Application filed March 31, 1880. (Model) To all whom tt mayconcern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE K. Hnrsr, a citizen of the United States,residing at Winchester, in the county of Frederick and State ofVirginia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Chairsand Stools; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear,and exact description of the invention, such as will enable othersskilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same,referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, and to letters orfigures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of thisspecification.

This invention relates to that class of chairs the seats of which areprovided with a screw adapted to turn in a threaded socket supported bya pedestal or base, whereby the seat may be not only turned around, butmay be also raised and lowered to obtain different heights, a familiarillustration of which is found in the ordinary piano-stool. It has beenfound that seats thus supported after a little use begin to wabble, byreason of the screw and socket wearing away, and that the. screw,because of its having solely to support the-weight of the occupant ofthe chair or stool, is liable to break, especially when it is run farout of its socket. Hence the screw is usually made large,whereby theweight and cost of the chair is greatly increased. There is also 'an'appearance, as well as the fact, of insecurity and frailness in thisconstruction.

The object of one part of my invention is to obviate this. In thisconnection I wish to remark that the seats of piano-stools have beenheretofore provided with a frame composed of arms depending from,rigidly secured to, and revolving with the seat and moving over a sleeveon the pedestal; also, that the screw has been incased in a sleevemoving vertically, but not revolving therewith.

My invention consists in a chair-screw adapted to support and raise andlower the seat, combined with a skeleton-frame moving vertically withsaid screw a 'ndhaving non-rotating ends, and with a nut to secure saidscrew and frame in the chair-pedestal, the parts being constructed andarranged as hereinafter specified and claimed.

The invention also consists in a revolving vertically-adjustable chairprovided with a non-rotating back, following the chair-seat in itsvertical adjustment.

In connection with this part of myinvention I may remark that revolvingvertically adjustable piano-stools have heretofore been provided withnon-rotating backs fast to the pedestal, and hence incapable offollowing the vertical adjustment of the seat, so that the higher theseat is raised the shorter the back therefor becomes, until it ispractically useless as a back, whereas in my construction the back isfast to and follows with the seat, and hence is always useful as a back,and is of uniform height with relation to the seat, whatever theelevation of the seat may be.

'In the drawings hereinbefore referred to, in the several figures ofwhich like parts are similarly designated, Figure 1 is a side elevationof a piano-stool embodying the first part of my invention. Fig. 2 is avertical cross-section thereof. Fig, 3 is a cross-section on line m 00of Fig. 2, looking at the bottom of the seat. Fig. 4 is a cross-sectionon the same line, looking down'on the top of the pedestal. Fig. 5 is across'section on line y y of Fig. 2, looking down upon the bottom of theskeleton-frame. Fig. 6 is a sectional elevation of the skeletonframe andthe screw therein. Fig. 7 is a side elevation of the seat with a backattached, and Fig. 8 is a bottom-plan view of the same.

For convenience, I have shown my invention applied to a piano-stool; butit is equally applicable to sewing-machine chairs, dentists ch airs,revolving and other similar chairs having vertically-adjustable seats,as will be readily understood.

The pedestal or base a may be of any desirable form, having a tubularportion to con- 0 tain the screw 1), its frame a, and out at. The lowerend of the screw is rounded and shouldered at c, and is adapted to turnin a plate, f, forming the bottom of the skeleton-frame c, and issecured thereto by a nut and washer, g. 5 The upper end, 0, of thisscrew is similarly shouldered to turn in the upper end or head,

h, of the frame, and it terminates in a squared portion which is fixedlysecured in a plate, 2', adapted to be attached to the bottom of thechair-seatj, so that by revolving said seat the screw is turned withoutturning the frame.

The head 71. may fit in a recess in the face of plate 2', and the twoare held together by securing the squared end of the screw to said plate2', so that said head It forms a bearing upon which the seat turns. Thenut dis screwthreaded to receive screw 1), and serves to permit theadjustment vertically of said screw by rotation therein.

The heads or plates f h of the frame 0 are connected by three or morerods, 7:, extended through holes in the nut d and disposed about thescrew b. These rods may be secured to plate It by nuts, or by screwingdirectly into said plate, as in Fig. 6, or by being riveted down orupsetting their ends, and they may be secured in the lower plate,f, byupsetting or riveting their ends.

As the seat is turned to raise or lower it the rotation of the screwwithin the ends of the frame 0 cariies said frame with it, so that thesaid screw takes its supporting medium with it, and said frame havingbearings by means ofits platef upon the walls of the tubular post orpedestal, and in the nutd by means of its rods 7;, the screw is steadiedin its move ment, prevented from wabbling, and greatly strengthened.

By this construction the size or diameter of the screw may bediminished, whereby a saving in the manufacture of the chair is efiectedthat will about equal the cost of the frame, so that a much stronger andbetter chair can be produced, at a very slight, if any, advance in cost,than by the construction heretofore practiced.

Upon the face of the upper head of the frame I arrange sockets I, whichmay be riveted thereto or cast therewith, and adapted to receive theends m of the frame of a chairback, u, said ends being suitably securedin the sockets by screws or other fastenings. The frame of the back isso curved, as shown in Fig. "7, as to clear the seat and permit saidseat to be freely revolved without coming into 5-contact with said back.

' It will be perceived that the back, being secured to the non-rotatingframe, will not revolve with the seat, but at the same time it willfollow said seat in its vertical adjustment, so as to provide a wholeand complete chairback, in whatever elevation the seat; may be. The saidback is so arranged as to be readily removed from the chair wheneverdesired, and thereby a very convenient, combined, or convertiblesewing-chair and piano-stool is provided.

What I claim is- 1. In a revolving chair, a seat, j, and its attachedplate t, a screw, b, fixed to said plate 'i, plates f h, to receive theends of the screw, rods k, and a nut, d, through which the screw androds pass, said rods connecting the plates f h, and forming therewith,by means of the nut, a non-rotatin g frame, in which the screw isrotatable, in combination with a tubular pedestal, a, in which the screwand frame are vertically adjustable, substantially as described.

2. In a chair, the combination of a seat supported upon a screw which isrotatable in a pedestal or other base, whereby said seat may be adjustedvertically, a non-rotatin g socketed plate loosely connected to saidscrew, and a chair-back fitted in such socketed plate, the said plateand back being carried up and down with said seat as it is verticallyadjusted, but not rotating therewith, substantially as and for thepurpose specified.

3. In a chair, the combination of a chairseat, a screw attached thereto,and a pedestal or base in which said screw works to permit the rotationand vertical adjustment of the seat with a back applied, substantiallyas described, to the chair, whereby said back is carried with the seatin its vertical adjustment without rotating therewith, as specified.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

GEO. K. HEIST.

Witnesses:

J. R. MESMER, J NO. JACOBS.

